An Oakwood doctor is facing charges of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances after being arrested on October 31. The investigation into Dr. Richard Sievers began back in early 2007 when the Warren County Drug Task Force discovered that Warren County pharmacies were receiving prescriptions from Sievers’ office that had been refused by Montgomery County apothecaries because of the unusually large amount of drugs being prescribed. An investigation conducted by the Warren County Drug Task Force revealed that Sievers was allegedly involved in an elaborate conspiracy to issue illegitimate prescriptions.
According to Commander John Burke, the head of the task force, the plan would have a wide reaching effect.
“It was really all of southwest Ohio,” said Burke. “It impacts a huge area.”
That area also included other states, according to a task force press release. The drug trafficking infrastructure allegedly involved individuals in Hazard, KY and Fort Lauderdale, FL and resulted in several thousand illegal prescriptions given to more than 200 “patients.” According to reports, many of these “patients” were never even seen by an office manager or Dr. Sievers. The report stated a simple payment of $100 would get a “patient” a “360 cocktail” that included alprazolam (Xanax), hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (Percocet or OxyContin), and methadone (Methadose 40mg.). Many of these drugs were allegedly then sold on the streets, where the combined value could reach $5 million.
According to the task force, the plot began to crumble, however, in November of 2007 when Sievers’ office and residence was searched along with the home of two co-conspirators. The search supposedly led to the seizure of $69,000 and nearly two hundred medical records, some which belonged to officers working undercover with the task force. While the find was appalling, Burke was quick to point out that individuals like Sievers in the medical profession are the exception, not the rule.
“This kind of behavior is not typical,” Burke said. “This is an extreme outlier. Not a lot of physicians do this sort of thing. About 99 percent of physicians would never do this.”
While the trafficking operation was extensive, Burke said he was confident that there were no offshoots and that the conspiracy has been completely dismantled with the help of Dayton Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, the Ohio State Medical Board, the Dayton Resident Office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the United States Postal Service.
